This invention relates generally to feeler gage holders and more specifically to a system for removably mounting feeler blades onto a holder.
Conventionally, feeler gages are generally rotatably and permanently connected to a pin that is in turn connected to a holder. This construction has the disadvantage of forcing the user to change to a completely new holder unit in order to gain particular access to blade members which may be removably mounted. Such a feeler gage is more convenient to use where one must employ a combination of blades to size or "gap" a space, and where there is a need to remove one or more blades for a particular application.
However, holder devices that allow removal and substitution of blades are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,010 discloses a relatively complicated feeler gage arrangement in which blades of varying thicknesses may be inserted and removed from a holder. The blades are stacked on a fixed pin threaded at one end. A sleeve is freely slidable along the length of the pin and is threaded at one end to mate with the thread of the pin. The blades are securely held by the sleeve when the internal thread of the sleeve mates with the thread of the pin. A spring rapidly releases the sleeve from the pin and thereby releases the blades from the sleeve when the sleeve is unthreaded from the pin.
A disadvantage of the device described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,010 that sleeve 22 with head 22a and spring 26 add to the cost of production. In addition, when the spring 26 urges the sleeve 22 outwardly, all of the blades are instantly released such that they are free to scatter and fall off and away from the pin. Thus, there is a need for a feeler gage which is capable of releasing one or more selected blades without fear of all the blades being simultaneously released.